Infectious Source Factors Affecting The Severity Of Sexually Transmitted Acute Hepatitis Due To Hepatitis B Virus Genotype C

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify clinical features and virological aspects of infectious sources that are related to the severity of sexually transmitted acute hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in patients, especially in cases of genotype C. Methods: Nineteen patients with acute HBV infection, 10 classified with severe acute hepatitis (SH) ( prothrombin time; PT < 40%) and 9 with typical acute hepatitis (AH) ( PT >40%), and their infectious sources ( all were sexual partners) were studied. Infectious source factors were analyzed in relation to the severity of hepatitis in the patients' partners. Results: The nucleotide homology of HBV-DNA between each pair was >= 98.9%. Sixteen were infected with HBV genotype C. Among the 16 infectious sources, age, numbers with elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT, 7/9 vs. 1/7), anti-HBe positivity (8/9 vs. 1/7) and core promoter mutations at nt 1762 (7/9 vs. 1/7), nt 1764 (8/9 vs. 1/7) and precore mutation at nt 1896 (8/9 vs. 1/7) were significantly higher in the sources of SH than in those of AH. Conclusion: Higher age, elevated ALT, anti-HBe positivity and core promoter/precore mutations were possible risk factors for an infectious source of the severe form of sexually transmitted acute hepatitis due to HBV genotype C. Copyright (C) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel.